Tag: SL600

The past few weeks I’ve come across a few Mercedes-Benz SL500 Silver Arrows that have garnered some attention. This car in Florida ended up selling for $16,900 and this car in Atlanta looks like it is still for sale. Today, I came across one of the 100 SL600 Silver Arrows that were made for the US market. The SL600s differed from the SL500s in that they didn’t receive the two-tone white interior but it did get the very pricey panoramic glass hardtop as standard. You also got a cool metal briefcase with some goodies inside of it that matches the car. Of course, you paid for all that at nearly $140,000 in 2002. Today, I have found one of these SL600 Silver Arrows for sale in Texas with just 5,400 miles. The price? Well, if we are on planet earth, this price is somewhere on Neptune. Seriously, I spit water on monitor when I saw this number and I wasn’t even drinking anything at the time. It is just that crazy.

Fall is officially here, so that means in roughly 11 days, we’ll be looking at about four feet of snow. (Florida and California residents excluded.)Â While there are still some sunny days left, why not enjoy them in none other than a V12 convertible from Mercedes-Benz. Truth be told, if you forced me to go buy a V12 Mercedes-Benz convertible, it wouldn’t take me any time at all the settle on the R129 with the M120 because that is the V12 that wouldn’t have me sleeping inside it because of how unreliable and costly it is. Granted, the M120 still isn’t an inexpensive engine to live with in the grand scheme of things, but compared to the M275 or god-forsaken M137, it is a far easier pill to swallow. Today, I wanted to check out a really tidy 1993 600SL up for sale in New York that has all the little goodies that makes it stand out from what you usually see from these early R129s.

Yellow is always a hit or miss color when it comes to German cars. Some cars it looks great on like a Porsche 930Â or a Volkswagen GTI 20th Anniversary Edition.Â Other cars, maybe not so much. When it comes to yellow Mercedes-Benz, there aren’t a whole lot of them out there. This was a hot color in the 1960s and 1970s, but outside of the first-generation SLK and the new AMG GT, you won’t find many painted in this bright shade. When you do, it is literally just a handful of them and they were probably painted that way by special request. Today car, the king R129 SL600, is painted in the factory Yellowstone 685. At least that is how it sits now. Let me explain.

If some is good, more is better. A lot of times that is true, sometimes it is not. Thankfully, that saying applies when talking about V12 Mercedes-Benz. One of the most common modifications to the M120 V12 is taking that 6.0 liter and increasing the displacement to a 7.0, 7.2, 7.3 or even crazier 7.4. AMG was known to do this in small batches as well as other aftermarket tuners. One of those aftermarket tuners was Renntech. They would pump these up to 7.0 liters as well as modify other things like camshafts and surrounding parts. The result was somewhere over 500 horsepower and a price tag to make anyone do a double take. Today, we have a one of those 7.0 liter conversions up for sale in Kentucky in this 1994 SL. Even better, there are some AMG goodies on this car as well.

The mighty Mercedes-Benz SL73 AMG: A car that can’t be mentioned without saying the word ”Zonda” in the same sentence. Less than 100 of these monsters started life as a regular SL600 with the M120 6.0 liter V12 and were shipped up to the AMG factory for some special touches and an increased displacement to 7.3 liters good for over 540 horsepower. The eponymous 7.3 liters were so good that they made their way in the Pagani Zonda and the rest was history. With so few of these cars made, if they ever come up for sale, they usually don’t go for cheap nor stay for sale long. Now that this 1999 is available for sale in California, it’s time to take a close look at this thing while we can.

1993 was a huge year for the Mercedes-Benz SL in North America. For the first time in its 39 year history, the Sportlich-Leicht was being produced with a V12 engine. The 600SL was graced with a massive aluminum block 6.0 liter with forged steel connecting rods that produced nearly 400 horsepower. This was 80 horsepower more than the M119 V8 from the 500SL of the same year. Of course, you paid a premium for the extra four cylinders. The 600SL base MSRP in 1993 was a staggering $120,000 (over $200,000 in 2017 buying power) compared to $98,000 for the 500SL. But in my opinion, you definitely got your moneys worth. These were handsome, practical cars that you could depend on â€” unlike your friends with V12 Jaguars and Ferraris.

This R129 for sale in Connecticut looks to be a great example of the first year V12 cars and it’s in my favorite color of Spruce Green Metallic. It’s not a perfect example and has a couple minor flaws but most importantly it looks well-cared for because for as stout as the M120 V12 is, it still needs its regular maintenance and repairs.

This Mercedes Benz 600SL is a future classic that has had extensive restoration work performed. In 1993 when this SL was sold, it represented the pinnacle of luxury and performance, 24 years later this car retains all of its original style and character and is a bargain when you consider the refinement and features that come with this car that originally had an MSRP of over $100,000.

The owner of this 600SL maintained the car flawlessly and invested in cosmetic and mechanical work to keep this car in peak running condition. The seats were recovered and the top was replaced which give this car great curb appeal. The transmission was recently replaced so the car shifts and drives great. This car comes with extensive documentation of both the restoration work that was performed and records of scheduled maintenance being performed on time and by professionals. The Carfax on this Mercedes is perfect!

This car was owned and cared for by a true connoisseur of Mercedes-Benz automobiles which is reflected by its pristine condition. This is a great opportunity to own a V12 Mercedes-Benz!

I really like this car. Spruce Green suits this car really well and the early 1990’s design language is highlighted well. It gets away from the standard black paint that is often neglected by this point and isn’t as garish as something like red. I enjoy the tan interior as a nice contrast to the green paint while the burl wood looks to be crack-free and has a nice shine to it. The carpeting in the driver’s side footwell could use a deep scrub as well as an extracting and it looks like there was a car phone mount that was drilled into the carpet that left behind multiple holes. I’m really disappointed that the seller, a dealer of rare and unique vehicles, didn’t bother to take photos of the soft top and open the hood to show that wonderful V12. I’m sure that can be arranged, but why would you make things difficult in the first place?

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say this car won’t even sniff the reserve that is set for this auction. Not because it isn’t worth it but rather you can’t expect people to bid with confidence if you leave out key photographs and don’t show any of the ”extensive documentation” that this car has. One more odd thing about this car is that the last registration was from 2011 which isn’t the something that inspires confidence in anyone. This car is less about actually trying to sell it with an auction and more about catching the eye of a serious buyer then proceeding with the transaction from there.

There exists a divided community of R129 Mercedes-Benz owners. On one hand there are those who feel that the V12 is necessary to make the car feel special and unique enough to be maximally enjoyable on rare driving occasions. On the other are more sensibly minded owners who prefer the cost-effectiveness and balance of the V8. I wonâ€™t interject my $0.02 into that discourse, but I will say that few R129 owners will disagree that a Silver Arrow SL600 is a very rare and desirable machine.

The Silver Arrow was a special edition of the R129 SL offered only in 2002, the final year of production. Only available in North America, Mercedes sold 1,550 Silver Arrow R129â€™s. Of these 1,550, only 100 were SL600â€™s. Featured here is one of those very few 600â€™s. I cannot recall the last time that one was publicly listed for sale, but having followed the R129 market closely since 2009, I can only recall ever seeing maybe one or two listed in online marketplaces.

Back in 1993, if you hopped down to the local Mercedes-Benz dealer and asked for a 600SL, they’d gladly give to youÂ â€” in exchange of giving them almost $130,000. If you somehow were dissatisfied with the car in terms of performance, you called up Mercedes super-tuner RENNtech and told them to do their thing with itÂ â€” in exchange of another $60,000. Now doing some quick math here, we are at a grand total ofÂ around $190,000. Keep in mind we are still talking in terms of 1993 money. To put that in perspective, that’s over $316,000 in 2016 dollars. And you thought a drug addiction was expensive! So what did this insane amount of money buy you?

Anyone looking for a brand new 15 year old car? Hereâ€™s your chance to buy what must be the lowest mileage R129 generation SL600 in the country. With 172 original miles, this car is probably as close to new as you can find. The R129 began production in 1989 as a 1990 model, and lasted until 2002; a pretty typical production life for an SL. To celebrate the final year of production, and to pay homage to the brandâ€™s racing heritage, Mercedes released the Silver Arrow spec SL. Available as an SL500 and an SL600, 1,500 cars were produced in total, only 100 of which were 600â€™s.

While this car isnâ€™t a Silver Arrow, it is a second-to-last model year R129, and is fitted in a very desirable color combo of black on light grey. I spoke with a salesman at Mercedes of Cherry Hill who informed me that the car was purchased new there, and the owner stored the car with the hopes of it climbing in value and turning a profit down the road. Needless to say, that dude bought the wrong car. He probably paid in the vicinity of $140,000 for it, and I donâ€™t even want to know what he sold it back to the dealer for. The good news is that we have the opportunity to buy the car, in virtually new condition, for around $90K off the original price.

The Mercedes-Benz R129 SL is on the cusp of collector status. Fellow GCFSB contributor Andy McCulley was in Washington, DC this week for a conference and we hung out a bit during the weekend, with much car talk on the agenda. After passing an SL500 Silver Arrow parked on the street, he opined that that is one R129 that will be worth money in the near future. I don’t doubt it. Few of them were built, with only 100 SL600s receiving the Silver Arrow trim. This SL600 for sale in Massachusetts might not be a Silver Arrow, but the V12 models are certainly more exclusive than their V8 siblings, with this car’s Designo trim adding on an extra serving of exclusivity.

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